As houses change owners, interior decorating styles come and go, and time takes its toll on structural integrity, remodeling a home becomes a matter of great importance to a home owner.
One of the great challenges of remodeling a home involves the close quarters cutting of structures close to barriers. One common situation is the need to cut away flooring where it intersects a wall, particularly if an overhanging object is present, such as a cabinet. Present procedures typically require the removal of the entire cabinet in order to get a cut close to the wall, the alternatives being to do a poor job or to proceed in a very tedious manual fashion to remove existing flooring. All of these methods can be time consuming and expensive. In addition, present art systems, due to a lack of precision, can damage the underlying floor.
A number of sawing devices are present in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,419 issued to Everett E. Chapin on Jan. 23, 1979 presents a sawing guide for a circular saw. Unfortunately, the device is not suitable for reaching under structures, as the saw that is adapted to be mounted within the guide is bulky. In addition, the sliding panel prevents the saw from getting close to a vertical barrier, such as a wall. While the saw of Chapin is adapted to slide, the travel of the saw is limited to the length of the opposing channels within the arms. A thorough examination of Chapin shows that the sawing device and process set forth address the sawing of a work piece, making it unsuitable for cutting into a floor structure.
Two less relevant references are presented by U.S. Pat. No. 3,356,111 issued to Walter G. Mitchell on Dec. 5, 1967, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,744 issued to Bons et al. on Jul. 8, 1986. The Mitchell patent presents a more compact power tool arrangement, including a circular saw structure. Because the structure is adapted for use with a machining table, it is unsuitable for reaching under and sawing close to barriers.
Bons et al. provides a universal machine that includes a pivoting turning device which can also be raised and lowered in a range of vertical positions. The universal machine is a relatively large structure, and the mining device centrally located, making it also unsuitable for cutting close to barriers.
To the inventors' knowledge, no apparatus has been created to meet the needs required for the close-quarters, edge cutting of floors. All concepts for such means which have been advanced have been either too bulky to fit in the tight working quarters or have not been able to cut at a close enough proximity to the barrier.